Thursday, September 27, 2012

Punctuation

If you still believe that punctuation has some importance... this is just the right exercise for you  ! Read this amusing story carefully and punctuate it. Put in the things that are missing: full stops(.) , commas (,) inverted commas (") , and question marks (?) . Also make capital letters where they are needed.




Remember that we use :


Full stops(.) at the end of a sentence .
Commas (,)to separate parts of a sentence showing a slight pause, or to separate the single things in a list. Inverted commas (") to show that someone else has written or said a word or phrase.
Question marks (?) at the end of a phrase or sentence to show that it is a question.



two men hired a small boat to go fishing they found a good place and caught a lot of fish one of the men said this is a wonderful place to fish let's come back here again tomorrow the other man said good but how can we find this exact spot again that's easy said the first man he took out a  can of paint and painted a big white x on the bottom of the boat there he said now we can find this same place easily that's a good idea said the other man but what if we can't hire the same boat tomorrow

Answers in the comments .

Monday, September 17, 2012

Teacher's Pet

Since it's back-to-school time, I thought it would be fitting (apropiado) to see this clip from the movie School of Rock, starring Jack Black as a loser who fakes (finge) being a substitute teacher at a private school to earn some money. In the triumphal finale of the movie, Jack's character turns a class of preppies (pijos) into genuine rockers and takes them to a Battle-of-the-Bands contest (concurso de grupos de rock), where they perform the song Teacher's Pet (mascota del profe).


Baby, we was makin' straight A's
But we were stuck in a dumb daze  (atascado en las nubes)
Don't take much (no cuesta mucho) to memorize your lies
I feel like I've been hypnotized

And then, that magic man, he come to town.
Woo-Wee! He come n spun my head around
He said "Recess (recreo) is in session,
Two and two make five."
And now, baby, oh, I'm alive.
Ah Yea! I am alive.

And if you wanna be the teacher's pet
Well, baby, you just better forget it.
Rock got no reason, rock got no rhyme
You better get me to school on time.

Oh, you know I was on the Honor Roll (cuadro de honor)
Got good grades, and got no soul
Raise my hand before I can speak my mind
I've been biting my tongue too many times

And then that magic man took to obey
Do what magic man do, not what magic man say
Now, can I please have the attention of the class.
Today's assignment (tarea)...
KICK SOME ASS!

And if you wanna be the teacher's pet
Well, baby, you just better forget it.
Rock got no reason, rock got no rhyme
You better get me to school on time.

And if you wanna be the teacher's pet
Well, baby, you just better forget it.
Rock got no reason, rock got no rhyme
You better get me to school on time.

This is my final exam
Now ya'll know who I am
I might not be that perfect son
But ya'll be rockin' when I'm done

Thursday, September 13, 2012

What The Doctor Ordered

Arthur Doyle was a medical student at Edinburgh University.He had a favourite teacher, Dr Joseph Bell, who was always telling his students:"You've got to learn how to think or all you know won't get you anywhere."(no te llevará a ningún lado) .
He used to demonstrate this to his class when he interviewed patients. "This man's a cobbler,"(zapatero -término algo anticuado-  he once told them .And he was right. Bell had noticed the man's trousers were worn at the inside of the knee... right were the cobbler's lapstone sits ( piedra que los zapateros se ponían en la falda y sobre la que golpeaban el cuero para endurecerlo)  .
Another time, Dr Bell deduced that a new patient was not long discharged ( licenciar de forma permanente) from the Army, had been in a Highland regiment and had been stationed in the tropics. It was very simple, he explained. The man was respectful but didn't remove his hat . They don't in the army.He was obviously Scottish and suffered from elephantiasis, which is a tropical illness , not British.   Dr Bell was trying to impress upon his students the power of observation. A good doctor has to notice everything

Arthur Doyle became  not only a doctor but also a writer. He immortalized his teacher's power of inductive reasoning in a character the world can never forget. Because Arthur one day became Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Dr Bell ... Sherlock Holmes  !!!


Dr Joseph Bell


Arthur Conan Doyle

Monday, September 10, 2012

Ferdinand the Bull


The Story of Ferdinand is a children’s book written by the American Munro Leaf in 1936. It’s about a Spanish bull that would rather smell the roses than fight in a bullring. The video below is a short animated film produced by Disney in 1938. This short was later awarded an Oscar.



Saturday, September 8, 2012

Patrick Steward

Patrick Steward as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek.
Sir Patrick Stewart, OBE (Order Of the British Empire) was born on 13th  July 1940 in Mirfield, England. He  trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, then worked on tour with the Old Vic Company led (past of " lead" liderar)  by Vivien Leigh, and spent six years in rep (informal for "repertory") at Lincoln, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool and Bristol. In 1966 he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, became an associate artist and played many leading roles culminating in Henry IV  and Leontes in the opening season of the Barbican Theatre in 1982. He played the title role in Peter Shaffer's play Yonadab at the National Theatre and George in Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf ? at the Young Vic for which he won a Fringe Theatre Best Actor Award. 
He has appeared in numerous plays, films and series for the BBC, including I Claudius, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier ,Spy and Smileys's People. For seven years he played Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Paramount Pictures' Star Trek: The Next Generation, directing several episodes. He has also been seen as Scrooge in A Christmas Carol ,and Ahab in Moby Dick .
Film work includes Excalibur, Hedda, Conspiracy Theory, Safe House, four films in the Star Trek franchise and three in the series of X-Men movies.
In New York he has played among others Prospero in The Tempest and, for four Christmas seasons, A Christmas Carol (Drama Desk Award , Best Solo Performer).

Now watch this clip from BBC America's THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW. It's fun  ! 

 

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

10 Common Expressions in English


EngVid is an interesting website that offers free English video lessons. Here’s one example talking about 10 common expressions in English. If you like this lesson, you can check out others at www.engvid.com .